Chapter 35

[Rich T]

First of all I am able to post some now. My wife has been an in-patient since July 13, 2010. It has been a whirlwind of a ride. She was intubated and had to be weaned off the ventilator. Later she went into kidney shock. I want to tell you we were making funeral plans 10 days ago. An alternative, if she could go home, seemed like the hospice nurses would need to be called and we just go home. However, we prayed earnestly and The Lord was good to us. Judy had a miraculous turn around and was moved to a Nursing Rehab center last night. My physical limitations make it very difficult to help her, but we are going to learn to use a hoyer lift and some techniques that she will help with diapers and bed matt changing. I am looking at the Toyota Sienna that has an ACC seat already installed, both for me and my wife.

The question as stated in the topic has to do with a young lady from our church that we pay to help out at home. I learned that her mom uses ChampVA, so I asked Jenn (age 28) more about her Chapter 35 usage etc. She knew nothing about it. Her mom didn't allow her to know anything about the divorced dad, and he passed away 23 years ago. The mom told Jenn he was a secret spy (really) and nobody was ever allowed to know about him. She told Jenn to never question the VA about benefits, as she was afraid they would take away her income. On the other hand, Jenn's mom says she informed her about chapter 35 when she was 18, but of course at that age who listens? Jenn dropped out of high school at 16 and had a baby. She lived a very limited self centred life style until she gave her heart to the Lord Jesus two years ago. Now she is on track with a good life-style. She studies every minute she can with self study courses at the library, or at our house. She is enrolled at the local community college this May. She applied forHer mom wouldn't tell her the dad's social,or his service number. We (her and I) called ChampVA and with being the beneficiary, asked if she ever had claims as a child, we used her social. They told her that she did, so we asked what the sponsors number. They told us. We used that to call the VARO and see if she may qualify for chapter 35. Of course they told her she was too old. I had her apply anyway stating she never knew about the benefit. Naturally, she was denied. In the denial the RO said she would have to 'PROVE' she never knew about chapter 35.

My quest here is to find a VA 'magic' word that Jenn can use to prove her case. By 'magic' word, I mean words we know to use, like; 'More likely than not, etc. Any ideas would be helpful. The appeal has to be right the first time, so we are trying to gather as much info as possible. The shame is Jenn has older brothers and sisters that too know nothing. --Ah, my dear sir, bingo. Jenn is NOT alone. If they were not told (statements from others) then more than likely she was not told. Thank you all for your input.

[broncovet]

If you can, find out about the "sponsor"..that is her DAd, the Veteran. This would make it easy:

Let me try an example.

Lets say Jen turned 26 in 2007. Further, lets say Jens Dad was awareded 100 percent in 2011 effective in year 2007. Then Jen should qualify because it is not Jens fault that it took the VA four years to process the application.

If you know when Jens dad recieved the decision and what the decisions effective date is, then if the dates coincide with the example I gave it should work. I hope I explained that right.

[LarryJ]

..............and, of course, it goes without saying that if Jenn's Mother would just sign a statement that she never informed her daughter that she was eligible for this benefit...................provided that her Mother even knew, or cared, about the benefit. Of course, if the Mother did not know about the benefit, then how could she have informed the daughter?

And, then, there are "exceptions" that can be made by the Chap 35 folks. I don't know which VA Regional Office houses your particular Chap 35 offices (ours are located at the VARO in Muskogee, Oklahoma), but I've found, by dealing with them that they are actually really nice people, and it is they, not your local VA Regional Office, that really are the "last deciders" when it comes to questions of eligibility. Give them a call and explain it as you explained it to us. You may be surprised at the outcome.

oh, and G-d bless you and the help you have offered to this young lady, and may G-d bless you and keep you and cause His Light to shine down upon you, and bring you Peace.

[jbasser]

Rich, Welcome Back. Recently we have had a lot of SMC questions.

Next weeks SVR show may be of interest to you and the young Lady you are discussing.

We are having Glenn Johnson who is ChampVA. He has been on before and if you want, shoot me a PM and I will ask him if he can advise you.

He is not like the RO. He is a really good guy.

The Show will be wednesday at 5:30 central.

JBAsser

[Berta]

Rich. glad you are back here again.It sounds like things took a positive turn for your wife but this must have been a very stressful ordeal for both of you.

I have no idea what she could do about the Chapter 35 benefit but you got good advise here.

I am concerned about this-colleges want high schools grads and/or someone with a GED- since she dropped out of school- has she gotten her GED yet?

There are many types of financial aid available and she could possibly get a Pell Grant.Being the child of A deceased veteran -who either had 100% P & T fr ten years prior to death or whose death was directly service connected- she should mention that to the financial aid people at her school.

[broncovet]

I think the word here is "waiver". You are asking the Va to "waive" the age requirement for the specific reason that she did not know about the benefit. Of course, you are going to want to comply with what they said on the phone..get letters as Larry said from people who can attest to the fact that Jen did not know.

Finally, if the "waiver" is denied, I think this is an appealable issue, just like other VA benefits...you start it by filing a NOD.

[deltaj]

First of all I am able to post some now. My wife has been an in-patient since July 13, 2010. It has been a whirlwind of a ride. She was intubated and had to be weaned off the ventilator. Later she went into kidney shock. I want to tell you we were making funeral plans 10 days ago. An alternative, if she could go home, seemed like the hospice nurses would need to be called and we just go home. However, we prayed earnestly and The Lord was good to us. Judy had a miraculous turn around and was moved to a Nursing Rehab center last night. My physical limitations make it very difficult to help her, but we are going to learn to use a hoyer lift and some techniques that she will help with diapers and bed matt changing. I am looking at the Toyota Sienna that has an ACC seat already installed, both for me and my wife.

The question as stated in the topic has to do with a young lady from our church that we pay to help out at home. I learned that her mom uses ChampVA, so I asked Jenn (age 28) more about her Chapter 35 usage etc. She knew nothing about it. Her mom didn't allow her to know anything about the divorced dad, and he passed away 23 years ago. The mom told Jenn he was a secret spy (really) and nobody was ever allowed to know about him. She told Jenn to never question the VA about benefits, as she was afraid they would take away her income. On the other hand, Jenn's mom says she informed her about chapter 35 when she was 18, but of course at that age who listens? Jenn dropped out of high school at 16 and had a baby. She lived a very limited self centred life style until she gave her heart to the Lord Jesus two years ago. Now she is on track with a good life-style. She studies every minute she can with self study courses at the library, or at our house. She is enrolled at the local community college this May. She applied forHer mom wouldn't tell her the dad's social,or his service number. We (her and I) called ChampVA and with being the beneficiary, asked if she ever had claims as a child, we used her social. They told her that she did, so we asked what the sponsors number. They told us. We used that to call the VARO and see if she may qualify for chapter 35. Of course they told her she was too old. I had her apply anyway stating she never knew about the benefit. Naturally, she was denied. In the denial the RO said she would have to 'PROVE' she never knew about chapter 35.

My quest here is to find a VA 'magic' word that Jenn can use to prove her case. By 'magic' word, I mean words we know to use, like; 'More likely than not, etc. Any ideas would be helpful. The appeal has to be right the first time, so we are trying to gather as much info as possible. The shame is Jenn has older brothers and sisters that too know nothing. --Ah, my dear sir, bingo. Jenn is NOT alone. If they were not told (statements from others) then more than likely she was not told. Thank you all for your input.

Rich, You know there may be another interesting benefit for this young lady Jenn. Some states have tuition waivers at state colleges for children of servicemen who died in the line of duty. There are also scholarships, grants, and loans available for survivors of veterans. The American Legion has a book on these entitled something like Need a Lift. There is also an extension of time limit available for people who are disabled and apply for extension of the delimiting date for chapter 35 available within one year of benefits expiring but I'm unsure that would allow her to go beyond age 26. There are some V.A. General Counsel Precedent Opinons on extension of chapter 35 benefits in some circumstances. If she files a claim for dependents educational assistance she needs to put her father's C number on the claim and his name. Also if she is curious about her dad she can ask V.A. to provide her with a copy of his C file. My husband did that. He requested and received a copy of his dead father's C file using his dead father's name and his XC number. When a serviceman dies in the line of duty the C number then has an X in front of it.